Her Release (One Night Stand Book 3)

by Toni J Strawn

  I ran my hands down her legs, letting the tips of my fingers follow the ridge of muscles down her calf to her feet. I undid one buckle and eased off her shoe, drawing my fingers along her instep. She placed a hand on my shoulder and I felt the feather-light caress through my shirt.

  I concentrated on getting the other buckle undone, when all I wanted to do was run my tongue in a line from her feet to her pussy. Soon. I lingered, trying to get my breath back to a steady rhythm. And allow time for my raging hard-on to subside.

  The second shoe came off. I slid back up her body. Jess’s eyes were wide, her breath a tremble on her lips. I leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to her cheek.

  “I want to pick you up and carry you out of here so bad,” I conceded. I wanted to hold her. To shake her. To fuck her.

  “Don’t even think about it. I’m controlling things. Remember?”

  My throat worked as she stroked her fingertips over my neck. It was going to be tough and Jess wouldn’t make it easy for me. A shiver of anticipation ran down my spine. I was looking forward to every second of it.

  Jess let out a small, delicious giggle. “You should see the look on your face. Worried about what you’re getting yourself into?” She trailed her finger down the middle of my chest, between my aching nipples. “So are we going to stand here and talk? Or shall we find your room and finish what you started?”

  “Your wish. My command.” My grin was full of anything but humor. “We’ll play this any way you want.” My voice grew husky as I took her hand. The straps of her shoes dangled from the other.

  “I want it my way.”

  “I had a feeling you might say that.”

  I walked her barefoot out of the ballroom.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Jess

  I barely made it through the door to Van’s room before his mouth came down, just the barest skim of lips against skin. Long fingers traced my jaw and he rained soft kisses across my cheek before tilting my head to explore my mouth more thoroughly.

  My lips parted easily, welcoming him as he cupped my face and conquered any lingering hesitations I might have had, stroke by luscious stroke. I twisted my hands into the fabric of his shirt, succumbing to the sensuous sweetness of his mouth moving over me, the slide and rasp of his tongue.

  There was a clatter as my shoes slipped from Van’s fingers and hit the floor. The distraction was enough for me to gather my thoughts. I pulled back. Frowned.

  What was it I’d wanted?

  Oh yes. That was right.

  “Clothes. Off.”

  I managed to squeeze out my demand before white-hot lust disabled my last remaining brain cell. All I wanted was to slip back into Van’s arms, for his mouth to be on me. I slid my fingers in between the buttons of his shirt, craving the touch of bare skin. With a growl, Van stepped away, plucking at the straps of my cocktail dress as he tried to find a way to get me out of it.

  I swiped at his hands. “Not mine. Yours.” I giggled.

  Confusion clouded his eyes for a moment, then he held out his arms, his palms face up, a silent entreaty for me to undo his cufflinks. The task was simple enough, but I loved the fact he needed me to do it. I moved in close, letting his heat envelop me, scent curling around my senses, making my mouth water. Fresh. Manly.

  Undoing the links took more time than it should have, but I wished it had taken longer to draw out the sweet moment of anticipation. Van watched every move through thick, inky lashes, his gaze a smolder of wicked promises. Once I undid the links, he worked on his buttons and as I stepped back, his shirt came off. The muscles in his stomach pulled into a ripple of abs as he shrugged the material off his shoulders.

  “Oh, yes,” I murmured in appreciation.

  Had I really just licked my lips?

  Van’s mouth twitched. “What about you?” he asked, his expectant gaze flicking toward my cleavage.

  It took everything in me not to rip my dress off and go at it. I would climb him like a monkey. With effort, I tore my focus from the perfection of flawless shoulders and the lithe, lean contours of his biceps. Both things I wanted to taste.

  “You’re not finished yet.” I met his eyes before looking pointedly at his pants.

  Van reached for his belt and I swallowed, fighting not to blink. I didn’t want to miss a second of the show. Leather slid through the buckle with a soft purring sound. The metal catch jingled as it fell open. My breath caught, teeth sinking into my lip.

  Van looked up, his fingers playing with the button of his pants. “Are you sure you want me to do this?” he asked, low and gravelly and sexy as hell.

  “Ack.” My mouth was so dry I couldn’t form a proper answer. I settled for a vigorous nod.

  With infinite care, Van pushed his pants down past his hips. They caught for a moment on the elastic of his briefs. I lunged forward and with a twitch of my hand, yanked on the fabric. His pants fell to the floor. Van stepped out of them.

  I moved back to get more of him in my view. My gaze started at his feet and went up, up, up all the way past his calves, the dips and curves of his knees to the black briefs cupping his cock. His desire for me was very much evident, and his breath was rough and uneven, as if the exertion of undressing had taken a lot out of him.

  “Stop.” I held up a hand as he went to remove the last piece of clothing. “Keep those on.” I wanted Van to leave something to unwrap and I loved the feel of hot, hard cock behind soft material. It just did it for me.

  Van dropped his hands to his sides. “You now,” he said.

  He might look obedient, but I could feel the coil of energy waiting to be unleashed. He was playing the game my way, but it wouldn’t take much for him to flip sides. Part of me wanted that to happen, remembering the excitement of lying beneath him, under his control.

  My legs felt shaky as I turned, piling my hair in my hands to lift it past the top of my gown. There was no lingering striptease. Van pulled the zip down, his hands tracing the length of the opening he’d made. The heat of his body burned at my back and I tensed, waiting for Van to close the gap and wrap himself around me. But he didn’t. He stepped away and I let the dress fall to the floor.

  I looked down. I hadn’t worn a bra—the bodice had one built in. I still had panties on though. And my stockings. The profile of my toes poked through the sheer black mesh. As did the ragged outline of my scar…

  I lifted my gaze to find Van watching.

  “I want my shoes back on,” I said.

  “Oh yes,” he agreed. Warmth fluttered low in my belly at his wholly carnal look. “But your legs go bare,” he added.

  He knelt to peel down my stockings and I braced myself against his shoulder as he lifted one foot, then the other to remove them. He ran his fingers up my legs, past my knees, stopping mid-thigh.

  “Like silk,” he murmured.

  He leaned forward until his face was only a sliver away from burying itself in my crotch. Wet waves of lust pooled at my sex. He took a deep breath and I shuddered, my legs trembling in anticipation. He crossed the last few inches of space and placed a kiss on the lace panel of my panties. Pulled away. I gripped his arm harder as he slipped my stilettos onto my feet and strapped them on. He looked up through his lashes.

  “May I?”

  I nodded, not sure what I was agreeing to. And I didn’t care either. Van came to his feet and a yelp caught in my throat as he scooped me up. I was going to protest, then thought, what the hell? I might as well accept Van was a man who liked carrying me places.

  “Bed.” I directed him to the bedroom when he made for the couch.

  “Your wish is my command.” Van stopped mid-step and turned to follow my orders.

  “And don’t you forget it.” I waved him on. His subservience made me feel good. Powerful.

  His meek demeanor lasted a whole three seconds before he sent me tumbling onto the bed. I scrambled up, but Van was already beside me, pushing me back, pulling my arms out straight. Moving past my hips, he ran his han
ds all the way down the outsides of my legs. He circled his fingers around my ankles with a light grip.

  “Hey! No fair—”

  The fight left me in a whoosh of air as Van’s mouth replaced his fingers, his tongue running over the top of my foot, dipping into the hollow of my ankle. He slid his hands up my calves. Not a massage—there was nothing but pure sensuality in his touch. He stroked higher with each arcing brush of his fingers. I was torn between the wet, luscious feel of his mouth on my skin and the spark of energy each time his touch crept higher.

  I parted my legs. Inviting him closer. Van crawled between them, dropping open-mouthed kisses as he went. He started with my right leg, the one free of scars, licking and tasting his way up to my knee. Then drew back. He raised a brow in question. I hesitated for a moment. Then nodded. I just needed to have his hands on me. Somewhere. Anywhere.

  Van dipped his head and gently traced my scars with a long, languid lick of his tongue. I tensed, not sure whether I liked the sensation or not, then his hands reached the vee of my thighs, his fingers playing around the edges of my panties. I liked that just fine.

  “Aren’t I supposed to be doing stuff?” I relaxed back onto the bed with a sigh.

  “Isn’t this what you want?” Van murmured against my thigh, continuing on with his exploration. “For me to worship every inch of you?” He lifted his head and met my gaze, his eyes dark, almost black with desire. “I’ll do whatever you want.” His words ended on a kiss halfway up my thigh, his fingers brushing against my sex.

  “You don’t play fair,” I breathed out.

  “Not playing.” Van went back to kissing me. “Hungry. For you.”

  His thumb crept under the lacy elastic and found its way into the wet slickness of my pussy.

  “Oh. God. Yes.” I thrust my hips as his thumb circled again.

  “Yes?” He paused, looking up the line of my body.

  “Yes. Goddammit. Yes!”

  Van groaned and face-planted in my crotch as though it had only been my words holding him back. He pulled the silky material aside, his tongue pushing into my sex, releasing small grunts of satisfaction. I writhed on the bed, barely enduring the wicked onslaught as he licked and sucked at my clit.

  With a snap, my panties tore at one side and Van whipped the material out from under my butt. He lifted my thighs over his shoulders and spread me wide. Need burned through my belly like fire, fanning flames of hot, searing heat.

  “Mmm.” Van licked his lips and burrowed back into me.

  I let out a low groan as he sucked on the small bundle of nerves, the softness of his hair tickling at my thighs. His fingers played a sensual tune around the edges of my sex. Van held nothing back, going at me hard. Unrelenting.

  My nipples ached and I kneaded my breasts together, toying with the tight pink nubs. The pressure built in my belly, coiling tighter as he started pumping two fingers in and out, eating at my pussy until I became a single pinpoint of pleasure.

  One last powerful pull of his lips and I let out a scream, gripping onto anything I could find purchase with. Van jerked against me, biting on my clit as my stilettos dug into his back. The pain as his teeth clamped around me was exactly what I needed. I tipped over the edge into pleasure, my body throbbing in time to my orgasm.

  I lifted my head in time to see Van undo the straps of my shoes.

  “Let me see your back.” I tried to sit up, but all my strength had disappeared. “Did I hurt you?”

  “No way.” Van pushed me back down and completed his task, dropping the shoes over the side of the bed. “It was worth it to see you come like that. Can’t you see how hard I am?”

  Sometime during the course of my orgasm, Van had dispensed with his underwear. He dished out a wicked grin and directed my attention to his crotch by rolling a condom over his rock-hard cock. No. He certainly hadn’t suffered any.

  “Now I get to leave my mark on you.”

  Van knelt in front of me, spreading my legs wide. A shot of excitement streaked through me. Laced with something darker. I wanted him to claim me. Mark me as his.

  “What are you going to do?” I bit at my lip.

  Van paused to consider, his gaze licking a path of heat up my torso. “I haven’t decided yet,” he said as our eyes met. “But I’ll think of something.”

  “I thought I got to tell you what to do?” I pulled him to me, nuzzling against his neck, nipping at his shoulder.

  “Yes,” Van gritted out his agreement.

  “Then fuck me.” I breathed my order into his ear. “Give me everything you’ve got.”

  His arms tensed, muscles rippling out along his biceps. I traced my fingers from his shoulders down his chest, brushing close to his nipples. Van held himself tight, his body so rigid I wondered that he didn’t shatter into pieces.

  “Do it. Now.”

  I felt the exact moment Van let go. The strict rein of his control snapped and he pulled at my hips. He cupped my ass, finding the entrance of my sex with the head of his cock. A slight pause and he pushed into me. Eyes closed. Head back. Neck straining.

  Heat flooded me. The feel of him inside me, the slide of his cock as he thrust deep… I caught my breath and he threw a quick glance at me to make sure I was with him.

  Oh, I was so with him.

  Van grunted, beyond words. He got to his knees and rocked into me again. Drew back. Until he was pounding into me, his fingers digging into my ass, sweat beading his brow. Van was off the leash and he was unrestrained power.

  And it was the fact he’d lost his grip on reality that turned me on the most. He thrust inside, the base of his cock slamming into the sensitive folds of my sex, the sharp thrill of ecstasy bringing me nearer to the edge. His cock hit deep and each time it did, small puffs of breath were forced from Van’s lungs, fanning my cheeks whenever his hips rammed forward to meet my body. A sweet ache of pleasure radiated out, tugging at my clit…just a little longer…

  “Open your eyes.” I gasped out my last order.

  With an effort, he squeezed his eyes open and locked onto me. An ocean of desire tugged me in. I was drowning in it. The tightness of the storm gathering in my belly exploded outward. I didn’t just let go—I hurled myself into the tumbling void, letting out a strangled scream as I was carried over into exquisite ecstasy. The kick of Van’s orgasm dragged me under with another wave of pleasure.

  “Fuck.” Van swayed forward and collapsed on the bed beside me. There was no fire in his curse, just the sound of a man satisfied beyond words.

  I rolled my head sideways to look at him. His eyes were closed, his breath coming hard.

  I grinned. I had done this to him.

  “You should sleep,” he said, still trying to catch his breath. “I’ve got big plans for you when it’s my turn.”

  “When it’s your turn.” I poked him in the chest. “But it’s mine now.”

  “Is this part of your plan?” He opened his eyes to look at me. “To wear me out so I’m physically incapable of doing anything?”

  “Yes.” Actually that hadn’t been my plan, but as plans went, it was a damn fine one.

  Van erupted into action. Within seconds I was lying beneath him, his lips only inches from me.

  “Sorry to tell you this, babe, but I’m a highly tuned health professional. And I know how to wring the last tiny drop of energy out of every muscle in my body.”

  I licked suddenly dry lips. Van pushed his hips forward, just in case I’d missed the hardness of his cock digging into my mound.

  “I’m ready.” His nose touched me. The barest kiss. “Are you?”

  I pushed at his shoulders and he let my momentum carry us over until it was him lying on the bottom. I straddled his thighs, my eyes gleaming.

  “My turn,” I snapped out.

  “Remember, this is the easy part of your training.”

  “Yes. Blah, blah. I’m so tough.” I didn’t miss a beat. “Bring it.” His threats were a serious turn-on.

  Van spread
his arms wide. Inviting.

  “Do your worst, but remember, you’re mine from tomorrow.”

  I shouldn’t have felt so happy about that.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Van

  Through a crack in the curtains, I could just make out a body-shape lying under the bed covers.

  Jessica Langford.

  I tapped on the balcony door. Either she was fast asleep or ignoring me. My mouth tightened. Either way, her ploy wasn’t going to work.

  She was so predictable. I’d texted the time and place she needed to meet me, but of course, Jess wasn’t where she was supposed to be. If she put as much energy into helping herself as she did fighting me, she would be unstoppable.

  Instead Jess was self-destructive.

  She argued she was happy to be who she was, but I knew she was deluding herself. Why else would she try so hard to climb the wall, tackling the same simple challenge over and over until she got it? Why would she want to wear shoes most people in their right mind would never buy?

  No. Jess was a long way from giving up.

  She just had to get out of her own way long enough to see it.

  Like I could see it. Jess had one of those indefinable sparks that attracted people to her, drawn to her easy, fun-loving nature. She made me laugh. She offered me the distraction I needed in my life right now. And an answer to the question circling my future. With my current treatment program coming to an end, I needed Jess’s case study for the next step. The practice I’d worked at prior to my workshop tour was already asking when I’d be back.

  I didn’t want to go home after this was over, not without a way out.

  I’d left because I hadn’t been able to stand my mother’s sadness, the slow grinding grief that had threatened to pull me under. I had ended up in control of my mother’s life and the relationship had been unhealthy for both of us.

  Why didn’t I have the same qualms when it came to controlling Jess?

  I looked back through the curtains where the Jess-sized lump was lying. I would happily handle her from breakfast to bedtime and I knew exactly what she needed.